Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of emergency medical treatment. More specifically the present invention relates to an emergency medical device for delivering thermal therapy to a patient.
Description of Prior Art
In recent years doctors have recognized that the irreparable damage done to the tissues of the brain and brain stem following oxygen deprivation, such as from cardiac arrest, might be prevented by promptly and rapidly cooling these tissues to slow their metabolic rates until emergency care or further hypothermia treatment can be administered. Such thermal therapy is well known and there are many devices in existence for applying hypothermia thermal therapy.
One broad category of prior hypothermia devices is not readily hand portable, generally not suited to use outside a hospital setting and expensive is a cap or headgear which receives coolant through a tube from another apparatus. Examples of such devices are Lennox, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,509, issued on May 30, 2006 which is described as a method and device for rapidly inducing and then maintaining hypothermia; Lennox, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,962,600, issued on Nov. 8, 2005, for a method and apparatus for reducing body temperature of a subject; Lennox, U.S. Pat. No. 7,507,250, issued on Mar. 24, 2009, for a method and device for rapidly inducing hypothermia; Lennox, U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,445, issued on Mar. 7, 2006, for a method and device for rapidly inducing hypothermia; Lennox, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,454,671, Jun. 4, 2013, issued on Jun. 4, 2013, for a method and apparatus for reducing body temperature of a subject; and Klatz, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,885, issued on Jun. 22, 1999, for a brain cooling device and method for cooling; and Klatz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,143, issued on Aug. 21, 2001, for a brain cooling apparatus and method for cooling the brain.
Another broad category of hypothermia device is the hood or headgear having pockets into which cooling material or members are inserted. A problem with these devices is that the walls of the pockets are a permanent, reused part of the headgear and lack the thin flexibility needed to conform closely to all curves and irregularities of the wearer head, so that gaps are created between the cooling members and the wearer head. These gaps define heat insulating air pockets which inhibit and decidedly slow heat transfer and tissue cooling, when rapid and complete cooling is critical. An example of such a device is that disclosed in Zebuhr, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,495, issued on Oct. 30, 1979, which is described as a slurry-cooled headgear. Yet another broad category is a head cover contained in or forming part of a larger device or machine, an example of which is the one disclosed in Brader, U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,963, issued on May 1, 1990, for an apparatus for preventing brain damage during cardiac arrest, CPR or severe shock.
Other patents include Cummings, U.S. Pat. No. 8,262,601, issued on Sep. 11, 2012, for a headgear trauma bandage and method; Cummings, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0296252, published on Nov. 22, 2012, for a head trauma bandage cap and method; Nambu, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,425, issued on Nov. 17, 1992, for a deformable cap for scalp cooling; Pasternack, U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,858, issued on Nov. 12, 1985, for protective headgear having a cooling harness; Brader, U.S. Pat. No. 8,449,590, issued on May 28, 2013, for an apparatus and method for preventing brain damage during cardiac arrest, CPR or severe shock; Maxted, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,411, issued on Aug. 30, 1994, for a scalp cooling device; Freedman, Jr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,756, issued on May 26, 1998, for a hypothermia-inducing resuscitation unit; Tremblay, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,579, issued on Nov. 25, 1995, for a head cooling device; Pachys, U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,728, issued on Feb. 18, 1997, for a scalp cooling heating apparatus; Augustine, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,400, issued on Jun. 24, 2003, for an apparatus, system, and method for convectively and evaporatively cooling a head; Gunn, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,783, issued on Jan. 17, 2006, for a system and method for reducing brain injury particularly in newborn infants; Gunn, et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication Number U.S. 2002/0091431, published on Jul. 11, 2002, for a system and method for reducing brain injury particularly in newborn infants; Wass, U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,680, issued on Oct. 3, 2000, for a selective convective brain cooling apparatus and method; Radziunas, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,529,613, issued on Sep. 10, 2013, for an adjustable thermal cap; Bedford, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2006/0005291, published on Jan. 12, 2006, for a cooling headgear; Dow, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0095538, published on Apr. 19, 2012, for a thermal wrap arrangement for applying heat/cold to the mandibular region of the head; Coba, U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 2009/0205107, published on Aug. 10, 2009, for cooling headgear; Gammons, et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2010/0106229, published on Apr. 29, 2010, for thermal skull pads for coolant system; and Stormby, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0041526, published on Feb. 16, 2012, for head gear.